Danzo's Specially Raised Traitors

Danzo's single word, "Good," was like a stone dropped into stagnant water. It stirred no ripples, yet made the surrounding air even heavier.

The greed and calculation in his one eye had not faded. Instead, they had gained another layer of scrutiny.

"Trust in Shin without proof is the cheapest thing there is." Danzo lightly tapped his cane against the ground. "I have granted you privilege. Now, you must show value worthy of that privilege."

He turned his head and issued an order to the Root ninja who had been standing stiffly beside him.

"Take him to the Zeroing Room."

"Have Zero test him."

The so-called Zeroing Room was a massive hollow even deeper underground than the stone chamber.

There were no walls here, only endless darkness. Beneath their feet lay cold, hard rock, etched with complex patterns of unknown purpose. The air carried a strange scent, a mixture of disinfectant and dried blood.

This was Root's screening ground, and also the graveyard of new recruits. Only those who could walk out of here deserved to be used as "tools."

Naruto stood in the center of the hollow while the ninja who had led him there retreated into the darkness.

The silence was so profound that he could hear his own blood flowing.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness ahead.

He wore the same standard uniform as the previous ninja and a pure white mask without any markings. His codename was Zero.

He was one of the sharpest blades in Danzo's hand, as well as Root's instructor, responsible for completely "zeroing" new recruits who still retained traces of emotion.

"There are only two rules in Root." Zero's voice was filtered through the mask, becoming flat and mechanical. "First, Lord Danzo's orders are absolute. Second, forget yourself."

As he spoke, he slowly approached Naruto. An invisible pressure accompanied each step, attempting to crush the target before him mentally.

"You are special. You have been permitted to forgo the cursed seal. But that does not mean you stand above the rules."

"Now, let me see where that arrogant confidence in Shin comes from."

The moment his words fell, Zero's chakra began to stir soundlessly.

The surroundings did not change in the slightest, but Naruto could feel a cold spiritual force, laden with powerful suggestion, quietly enveloping him.

Genjutsu.

Not the low-level kind that altered the environment, but one that directly invaded the mind and dredged up the deepest wounds within.

Before Naruto's eyes, the dark Zeroing Room vanished.

In its place appeared the familiar streets of Konoha.

The sun shone brightly, but he could not feel even a trace of warmth.

"Get lost, you monster!"

"Stay away from my child, demon fox!"

Hateful stares and scornful curses came at him from every direction. His younger self sat alone on a swing, watching other children hold their parents' hands as they bought the last skewer of dango.

This was the childhood he knew best.

Zero's voice rang through the illusion like a ghost, carrying a mocking edge.

"Look. This is the village you wish to protect. They despise you, fear you, and see you as a calamity. Your loyalty, your protection—everything you do is nothing but a joke to them."

The illusion shifted.

On the street stood the blurry figures of a man and a woman, smiling gently. Their features were indistinct, and only little Naruto's expectant gaze revealed who they were.

"Dad... Mom..."

The Naruto in the illusion stretched out his hand uncontrollably, tears blurring his eyes.

"Can you pick me up from school and take me home? I'm hungry. I don't want to eat cup ramen anymore. I don't want to swing by myself anymore..."

Zero sneered inwardly. He felt that his psychological assault was like a precise scalpel, peeling away the target's most fragile defenses layer by layer.

This was a method that had never failed him. No matter how strong a ninja was, there was always a soft spot deep within. As long as he pried open even the smallest crack, he could destroy them completely.

Yet the collapse, roaring, and mental breakdown he had expected never came.

Naruto, standing at the center of the illusion, merely looked quietly at the gentle phantom couple, his face utterly expressionless.

"So this is your method of attack?" Naruto spoke. His voice was terrifyingly calm, instantly tearing apart the atmosphere of the entire illusion. "Using the target's emotional trauma to carry out inefficient mental contamination. Crude methods, chaotic logic, and conclusions riddled with errors."

Zero's heart tightened.

Something was wrong.

He felt as if his genjutsu had struck a block of immovable steel.

"Flaw one." Naruto turned to look at the loathsome phantoms of the villagers around him. "Blaming the protected for the ignorance of the populace is a typical transfer of responsibility. They are not perpetrators. They are merely resources that need guidance and management. Your level of understanding remains that of a child who sees only black and white."

"Flaw two, and the most fatal flaw."

Naruto's figure suddenly became incomparably towering within Zero's perception.

"You are trying to use 'emotion' to attack an existence that has long discarded emotion. You are insulting me."

Boom!

The entire illusory world began to tremble violently.

The sunlight, streets, villagers, and phantoms of his parents cracked apart inch by inch like a shattered mirror.

They were replaced by an endless, cold starry sky made of steel and runes.

Zero discovered in horror that, at some point, he had changed from the attacker into the trapped one.

He had been dragged into the other person's mental world.

"How... is this possible..."

He saw Naruto standing calmly before him, but what reflected in those blue pupils was no longer human emotion. It was absolute reason and majesty, looking down upon all living things.

"Now, it is my turn to assess you." Naruto's voice resounded through this mental space like an oracle.

"You possess jonin-level strength, and your skill in genjutsu is especially outstanding. Yet Danzo only has you test recruits, treating you as a gatekeeper."

Naruto took a step forward. The invisible oppression made it difficult for Zero even to breathe.

"That does not conform to the principle of resource optimization. There is only one explanation: he does not fully trust Shin. A tool that cannot be completely controlled, no matter how sharp, can only be kept at the bottom of the toolbox."

Cold sweat seeped beneath Zero's mask.

Those words were like a scalpel, precisely cutting open the deepest wound he had hidden beneath the disguise of "loyalty."

"Why does he not trust Shin? Let me guess." Naruto's voice held not a trace of sympathy, only cold analysis. "Most likely because of your background. You did not join Root willingly. He coerced you through some means. Family? A lover? Or some weakness you could not bear to let go of?"

He used psychic perception to sense the most subtle psychological fluctuations at the bottom of Zero's heart, using his words as variables to test whether his guess was correct.

"He stripped you of your emotions, yet used those same emotions to control you. He made you crave Order, yet forced you to serve the source of chaos."

"You are trapped here, powerless to break free. So you project that pain onto every recruit you test, trying to see the same despair in them that you see in yourself."

Naruto stopped before Zero. At the same time, his retaliatory genjutsu descended upon Zero, countless scenes that most powerfully struck at the vulnerable nerves of his heart crashing into Zero's mind in an instant.

He was crudely cycling through possibility after possibility.

The one that provoked the strongest reaction was the answer.

"So it was family? The young master of a fallen clan driven to extinction, forced to submit beneath his enemy's dog chain just to secure a chance for his family to survive. What a cliché plot."

"Your loyalty is on the verge of collapse. Your will has long been riddled with holes."

"Shut up!"

Zero finally lost control. He roared, gathering all his chakra as he tried to break free from these mental shackles.

Test result: hypothesis confirmed.

But within this will-space belonging to the Emperor, any resistance was futile.

Naruto slowly raised his hand, and a kunai appeared in his grasp out of thin air.

Ignoring Zero's futile struggle, he merely rested the cold blade lightly against Zero's neck.

The illusion shattered in response.

The training ground was still the same training ground.

Zero knelt on one knee, gasping for breath, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

A shallow red mark was clearly visible on his neck. It had not drawn blood, yet it terrified him more than any fatal wound could.

Naruto looked down at him and withdrew the kunai.

"The test is over."

Zero's body was stiff. He could feel that, in that instant, if Naruto had wished it, his head would already have been separated from his body.

This had not been a test for Naruto. It had been a test for him.

It was a pure crushing force at the level of will, transcending speed and strength.

Naruto bent down and spoke beside his ear in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"What Danzo gave you are shackles. He feeds his power with your pain and calls it 'Order.'"

"And I can offer you a real choice."

"A true Order where you no longer need to be bound by emotion, nor need to swear loyalty to any individual."

"If you rely on him, you will forever be nothing more than a tool he suspects. If you rely on me, you can become the cornerstone of a new Order and remove the seal upon yourself with your own hands."

After saying that, Naruto straightened up. Without looking at him again, he turned and walked toward the exit.

Zero remained kneeling where he was, his body trembling violently.

Loyalty? Betrayal?

No, this was not betrayal.

This was... survival.

He raised his head and looked at that orange figure from behind. For the first time, a flame called "hope" ignited in his eyes.